Hindu friends pay tribute to Muslim riot victim

Nissar Shaikh was one of six innocents who died because of the Hari Masjid police firing on January 10 1993 His friends keep his memory alive with a trophy named after him ITS not everyday that a Hindu festival commemorates the memory of a Muslim For this to happen in the Marathi heartland of Parel is even rarer But for three years after his death in police firing the Fitwala Lane annual Govinda trophy was named after 24yearold Nissar Shaikh who lived on that laneNissar Shaikh who was shot in the spine at Hari MasjidNissar Shaikh was only the second of six siblings to get an education The Std XII student had gone one Sunday to give his friend the fees for an ITI course he was pursuing along with his studies En route he stopped for namazBut this wasnt any ordinary Sunday It was January 10 1993 And the masjid Nissar stopped at wasnt any ordinary masjid It was the Hari Masjid situated between Wadala and Sewree the site where according to the Srikrishna Commission Report on the 199293 riots six innocent people were shot dead by then SubInspector Nikhil Kapse four of them inside the masjid Nissars family later found the ITI fees a bloodstained wad of 5000rupee notes in the masjid where Nissar was shot in the spine Unlike others shot there Nissar didnt die immediately This sporty youth who loved the gym football and swimming he often swam at the Kamgar Stadium near his home lingered on in hospital as a paraplegic till meningitis claimed him six months later By then he had told his five sisters and parents the name of the man who had shot himu00a0 Last month Nikhil Kapse now Senior Inspector was charged by the CBI usecs 302 murder and 307 attempt to murder for the firing at Hari Masjid As soon as they heard the news Nissars sisters brought out the records of his death hoping the CBI will record their statement We didnt know a man named Nikhil Kapse existed till our brother told us his name now we are ready to go to court whenever called to see that he is punished Thanks to Kapse we learnt the ways of the world very quickly says a bitter Rashida Nissars younger sister who deposed before the Srikrishna Commission Getting Nissars medical records and police documents from KEM Hospital and R A K Marg police station was no easy task The family has guarded these documents hoping they will help book the man they regard responsible for their brothers unnecessary death Nissar was the only son and his untimely death had a deep impact on the Shaikh family It drove the eldest of his five sisters into a depression she has yet to come out of She was the first and only graduate in the family the one who used to help him with his studies Nissars mother who practically stayed with him in the hospital never recovered from the tragedy and remained ill till she died three years back His father Ibrahim who ran the familys small bread shop was proud that his only son dreamt of a world beyond it After Nissars death the shop became the familys only source of livelihood but Ibrahim no longer had the heart to run it and gave it out on rentNikhil Kapse described the Hari Masjid firing as a response to Muslims running riot against Hindus a version Justice Srikrishna found wholly unbelievable After hearing of Nissars death in the firing some miscreants broke into the Shaikhs shop and made a bonfire of its contents on the road They said Your boy went to Sewri to riot this is our revenge recounts Abida his elder sister adding Those people didnt know him Everyone who knew Ibu pavwala ka ladka called him a dev manusThose who did know him commemorated Nissars memory differently Anil Pednekar Dattaram Wagwe Rajesh Chavan Ulhas Roderigues Sanjay Bhajiwala Vithal Ambodkar Ajay Murudkar Vijay Adjul and many more most of them trueblue Marathispeaking Hindus paid their tribute to their friend by naming the award for their most popular competition the annual Govinda trophy after him